


Readjustment

by phantomthief_fee



Series: Reunion AU [10]
Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Body Horror, Identity Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-04
Updated: 2018-02-04
Packaged: 2019-03-13 09:10:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13567386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phantomthief_fee/pseuds/phantomthief_fee
Summary: Now that they're out of the studio, Boris and Bendy try to adjust to life. But their past comes back to haunt them





	Readjustment

Boris was so happy to be leaving the studio with Bendy. It felt wonderful to be outside the studio, feeling the wind in his fur, the sun on his face. After being trapped in the studio for so long it was amazing to be outside. Things had gotten better after Alice had left, but it had still been lonely. He and Bendy had been on their own since all the others were gone as well. Bendy seemed to miss Sammy just a little bit, even if he wouldn’t admit it. Boris hoped the projector man had gotten the projector off his head. Henry was really nice, though. He took them to his house and let them stay in some spare rooms. He was nothing like Joey. He treated Boris with kindness, keeping him close and making sure he was alright. Henry’s wife, Linda, made them food and cleaned them up. 

“You’re both filthy!” She clicked her tongue as she scrubbed at the two toons with a washcloth. “ Good lord, did you boys bathe in cobwebs?”

“ **Sorry ma’am.** ” Boris smiled sheepishly. He did feel bad that she had to clean him off herself. He probably could have done it on his own, but she’d insisted. It did feel good to be bathed, especially when she scratched behind his ears. Bendy was being especially rambunctious, messing around and splashing Linda. 

“Calm down.” Linda chided the little demon. “You’re going to get the bathroom all wet!”

“ **_Sorry._ ** ” Bendy settled down, but kept smiling mischievously. Boris was glad Bendy was acting more like himself. He’d been so quiet and mopey in the studio. The Bad Man had made Bendy so sad. 

“It’s alright,” Linda said. “I understand you’re very excited to be out of that studio. I know I would be. I don’t understand why Henry and Joshua keep going back there.”

“I wanted to get everyone out!” Henry yelled from down the hall. Linda sighed and rolled her eyes. 

“Always trying to save everyone.” She said to herself, smiling fondly. 

“ **Gosh, you really love Henry, doncha?** ” Boris said. 

“Yes, I do.” Linda nodded, pausing in her scrubbing of Bendy’s back. “He’s a good man, and I feel very lucky that we found each other.”

“ **_You’re really lucky._ ** ” Bendy sunk down into the water. “ **_No one loves us anymore_ ** .” 

“ Nonsense .” Linda resumed scrubbing. “Henry loves you both. You’re basically his children.” Bendy just sat there. He had a strange feeling that Henry was supposed to hate him, although he wasn’t quite sure why. There was another voice in the back of his head. 

_ Henry will never forgive me for what I’ve done.  _

Why was he thinking that? Where had it come from? He knew he’d done bad things, but Henry had said it was okay. Henry had told him he wasn’t mad. And, to be honest, Bendy didn’t really remember chasing Henry around the studio or hurting Alice like Henry said he had. Everything had been all fuzzy before. He’d woken up in the studio and Boris had found him. That was all he could remember. 

“ **Ben, you okay?** ” Boris asked, looking down at his pal. 

“ **_Yeah, I’m fine._ ** ” Bendy forced a smile. “ **_Just thinkin’ is all._ ** ” 

“ **Thinking about what?** ” Boris tilted his head. 

“ **_...Stuff._ ** ” Bendy shrugged. “ **_It’s nothin’_ ** .” Thankfully, Boris’ attention was drawn away from Bendy by the arrival of the man from the studio. Henry had explained that the man’s name was Joshua, and he was basically Henry’s kid too.

“Hey, how’s everything going?” Joshua stopped in the doorway to the bathroom. 

“They’re clean now,” Linda announced. 

“ **_Does that mean we have to get out of the tub?_ ** ” Bendy asked. 

“Yes, dear.” Linda adopted a gentle, almost motherly tone. 

“ **_Okay..._ ** ” Bendy climbed out and let Maria dry him off. Boris got out and proceeded to shake himself off like a dog, getting everyone in the room wet. Linda sighed something under her breath, getting up and going to change her clothes. 

“Lunch is downstairs.” She said as she left. “You both better remember to eat after you’re dressed.”

“ **_Yes, Miss Linda._ ** ” Bendy and Boris said together. 

“That means you too, Joshua.” Linda gave him a pointed look before disappearing. Joshua laughed, turning his gaze back to Boris and Bendy. 

“How are you both settling in?” He asked. 

“ **_It’s great here!_ ** ” Bendy jumped up and down as he dried himself. “ **_Being outside is awesome!_ ** ” Joshua was starting to think there were two different Bendy’s in the studio. This one was most likely made out of some former employee, while the other more monstrous version was Joey. He could only wonder who Bendy was exactly. A question Bendy had as well.

“ **Y’all are really nice,** ” Boris said. “ **Thank you again for takin’ us in.** ” 

“It was Henry’s decision, not mine, but you’re welcome anyway.” Joshua handed the toon wolf a pair of freshly washed overalls. 

“ **_Where’s my bowtie?_ ** ” Bendy pouted as Boris got dressed. 

“Right here.” Joshua handed it over. Bendy snatched it away and put it on, adjusting it a few times before he was satisfied. 

“So, you guys hungry?” Joshua asked. The toons nodded enthusiastically and followed Joshua downstairs. Waiting for them was the woman from the studio, the one Joshua had called Dee. Henry had explained that her name was Cordelia and she was Joshua’s girlfriend and a former intern at the studio.

“Hello, boys.” She smiled gently at the toons. 

“ **_Hi, Miss Cordelia!_ ** ” Bendy and Boris said together. They all sat down around the table and began to eat. Both toons wolfed the food down as if they were starving. Both Cordelia and Joshua laughed a little at this. It was pretty cute. 

“Do you want to meet the other members of the studio later?” Joshua asked. “Nancy might like to see you both.”

“ **_Nancy?_ ** ” Bendy tilted his head to the side. 

“She’s Sammy’s sister,” Cordelia explained. 

“ **_Wowie! I didn’t know Sammy had a sister!_ ** ” Bendy’s eyes widened. 

“He’s got a brother too,” Joshua said. 

“It’s a shame his father couldn’t have seen them reunite.” Cordelia stared into her coffee cup with a sad smile. Bendy had a sudden memory. 

_ “Where is my son?” The old man growled, hoisting  _ **_Him_ ** _ up by his collar. That man. The sight of  _ **_Him_ ** _ sent shivers down Bendy’s spine.  _ **_He_ ** _ was a bad man. _ **_He’d_ ** _ hurt Bendy.  _

_ “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Father Lawrence.”A cruel smile twisted  _ **_His_ ** _ features. Father Lawrence slammed  _ **_Him_ ** _ against a wall, his face a mask of rage and desperation.  _

_ “Tell me where my son is.” He demanded. The people behind Father Lawrence echoed the preacher’s sentiment. They wanted their loved ones back. _

_ “Papa Drew, please,” Bendy begged. “I don’t wanna do this anymore!”  _ **_He_ ** _ smirked. Bendy started to cry, covering his ears. Ink began to rise around the search party as  _ **_His_ ** _ body twisted and reformed. To his credit, Father Lawrence stood his ground.  _

_ “Y̷o̷̧u͝͏'̴r̕e̕͏ ̴̛͘n͜e͜͠v͜er̷ ̵͡l͠͡e҉a҉̵vį͜͡ng̶҉ ̶͘h̢e̕r̢e.̴͜͟”  _ **_He_ ** _ laughed. “Y̛o̷̢͝ư̛ ̛͝bel̴̵̛o̸҉ņ̸g ͜t̸̴o ͘҉m̶̧͜e̷ ̢͞n̡ow̵.̸҉”  _

“Bendy? Bendy, are you okay?” He snapped back to reality as Joshua shook him. He had been muttering under his breath, words that he didn’t understand. They were old words, ones that should never have been spoken aloud. They were the Bad Man’s words. Cordelia’s face was ashen, her knuckles turning white as she clutched at the tablecloth. Boris looked similarly terrified, pressing himself against a wall and whimpering. Bendy looked around, drawing into himself.

“ **_S-Sorry._ ** ” He said. “ **_Don’t know what happened._ ** ” Cordelia forced herself to get up and go over to Boris. 

“Are you alright?” She asked. Boris grabbed onto her, burying his face in her chest like a child would. Those words, the ones that had come out of Bendy’s mouth, he recognized them from his deepest nightmares. The ones where a man stood over him with a scalpel.

“ **Don’t take me** back. I don’t wanna go back.” Boris’ goofy voice gave way to one that Cordelia recognized, one that chilled her to her core. 

“W-Wally?” She whispered. Boris looked up at her, his pie-cut eyes the same green as Wally’s. 

“I can’t go back.” He whimpered. “ _ He _ says I’m not perfect. He’ll hurt me!”

“No, it’s okay.” Cordelia stroked his head. “You’re alright. No one’s going to hurt you.” Slowly, Boris’ eyes turned back to black, and he managed to calm himself down. 

“ **_Bo? You okay?_ ** ” Bendy asked, reaching out to his friend. He was scared now. The man in that vision...Had he hurt people? Had he hurt _ Boris _ ? Bendy had a sinking suspicion that he’d helped that man. 

“ **I’m okay.** ” Boris nodded and smiled shakily. “ **Sorry about that.** ”

“Don’t worry about it,” Cordelia assured him, scratching him behind the ears. 

“Maybe we should hold off on introducing them to the others,” Joshua suggested. 

“ **_No! We can do it!_ ** ” Bendy said, stamping his foot. “ **_We can see them!_ ** ”

“Are you sure?” Cordelia asked. “You both had a bit of a...moment there.”

“ **_I’m sure!_ ** ” Bendy nodded and folded his arms. 

“Alright.” Joshua went to the bottom of the stairs and yelled up, “We’re taking the toons to see everyone in the parlour!”

“Be safe!” Linda and Henry yelled back. 

They left the house and headed over to the studio, once they’d disguised the toons. They didn’t want everyone freaking out because there were living cartoons walking around. Bendy and Boris seemed to have perked up as they entered the parlor. Bendy was chattering on about how excited he was to see everyone. Boris agreed, but was considerably quieter. He’d refused to let go of Cordelia’s hand. She didn’t force him to let go. Joshua opened the door to the parlor, entering before the others. Sammy and Norman were sitting in the waiting area, talking quietly while Nancy did paperwork.

“Oh, Joshy.” Nancy looked up. “Weren’t you supposed to be helping Henry out today?”

“Well, we had some new additions to the household who wanted to meet everyone.” Joshua stood aside so Bendy and Boris could enter. Sammy almost immediately stood up and slammed his back into the wall. 

“What is  _ he  _ doing here?” He demanded, looking accusingly at Joshua. 

“He’s not going to hurt you.” Cordelia stepped into view. 

“He tried to kill me!” Sammy yelled. 

“ **_No! I didn’t hurt anyone!_ ** ”  Bendy insisted, trying to make himself smaller. “ **_I-I swear, I didn’t hurt anyone_ ** .” He felt tears beginning to well up in his eyes. He wasn’t like the Bad Man. He’d wanted it to stop. 

“ **Bendy’s not a bad person!** ” Boris stood behind his friend. “ **Bendy’s my friend. He’s not like the Bad Man.** ”

“The Bad Man?” All the humans repeated. 

“What the fuck is he talking about?” Sammy demanded. 

“Look,” Joshua put his hands up. “We think there are two versions of Bendy. The one that tried to hurt you was probably Joey. This isn’t Joey.” 

“He’s probably a former member of the studio,” Cordelia said. “They both are.”

“So they’re just like us.” Norman had stayed seated throughout most of this. His voice was soft and still rather rough from disuse. Cordelia and Joshua nodded. Sammy slowly sat back down, but kept an eye on Bendy. Boris put his hands on Bendy’s shoulders, hunching protectively over his friend. 

“Let’s start over.” Cordelia sighed. “Bendy, Boris, these are some former members of the studio. Norman, Sammy, here’s Bendy and Boris.” 

“It’s nice to meet you both.” Norman smiled softly, holding his hand out. “We’re glad to have you here.” Bendy awkwardly shook his hand. 

“I’m sorry I freaked out.” Sammy ran a hand through his hair. “I...It was rough there.” 

“ **_Don’t worry about it._ ** ” Bendy smiled shakily. “ **_The Bad Man did a lot of things to a lot of people._ ** ” 

“ **But don’t yell at Bendy again,** ” Boris said, a growl entering his voice. For some reason, he felt irritated when he looked at Sammy. Something about the former music director just rubbed him the wrong way.

“I won’t,” Sammy assured him. 

“I wish Alice could have come back with you guys.” Nancy sighed, leaning on the desk. “She’d be a Hell of a lot more pleasant than Susie is.” 

“She’s trying.” Cordelia sat down beside Sammy, with Joshua beside her. 

“ **_The Bad Man talked about Susie a lot_ ** .” Bendy settled down on the floor in front of the humans on the couch. “ **_Her and a lady named Allison._ ** ”

“Henry managed to fix whatever Joey did to them,” Nancy said. “Which means Susie’s back to her normal bitchy self.” Sammy turned away from Nancy, trying to ignore what she was saying. 

“ **Do you like Miss Susie?** ” Boris asked, looking curiously at Sammy. 

“I...I don’t know.” Sammy sighed heavily. “It’s hard to explain. We went out for a while and I really liked her. Then she got replaced and things...Things went downhill.”

“You deserve so much better, Sammy,” Nancy said. “You’re too good for her.”

“You can’t help who you love.” Cordelia patted Sammy’s back gently. Bendy and Boris glanced at each other. They remembered hearing Alice talking about Sammy sometimes, and the comments had been anything but kind. They decided not to say anything about it. 

“ **_So, you’re Sammy’s sister?_ ** ” Bendy looked over at Nancy. The easy camaraderie the former studio employees had made him a little uncomfortable. He felt like an outsider when faced with their friendship. He needed something to get his mind off of it.

“ **Must’ve been hard. He ain’t easy to get along with.** ” Boris said without thinking. Where had that come from? He didn’t know Sammy, not really. 

“Isn’t that the truth?” Nancy smirked at her brother. “He may say I’m a hellion, but at least I’m nice to work with.” Sammy made a rude gesture towards his sister before turning back to Boris. 

“You sound like Franks.” He said, smiling slightly at the wolf. “I probably should have been nicer to him.”

“I always thought you two got on fine,” Norman said. “Sure, you gave each other a hard time, but you were friends, weren’t you?” 

“ **_I didn’t know you had friends. I’m glad people like you!_ ** ” Bendy said brightly. 

“You’re saying that like nobody likes me.” Sammy’s smile twitched slightly. Boris sat quietly where he was, frowning. Memories were beginning to surface. Memories of bothering Sammy, getting yelled at by Sammy. 

“ **Could...Could you tell us more about Franks?** ” Boris whispered. 

“You want to know more about Wally?” Cordelia frowned slightly. “Well, he was a janitor at the studio. He was originally from Brooklyn I think.” 

“He was a pain in the ass.” Sammy jumped in. “Always losing his keys. I told him to get a better keyring but he never did.” 

“He was a good kid though.” Norman added. “When people were upset, he made it his mission to cheer everyone up.” As everyone shared their memories of Wally Franks, more memories made themselves present in Boris’ mind. He remembered all the things they were talking about. But...He wasn’t Wally Franks, was he? He was Boris the Wolf. He was Bendy’s best friend. He held his head and began to whimper. Bendy was immediately at his side, patting his back and assuring him it was alright. 

“What’s wrong?” Nancy asked, rushing out from behind the counter. 

“M **y** he **ad** hurts.” Boris whimpered, his voice fluctuating between his and Wally’s. Everyone froze at that. 

“Wally?” Sammy whispered, eyes widening. Boris looked up and his eyes were green again. 

“ **_Bo, your eyes._ ** ” Bendy gasped. 

_ “Hold still now, Boris. There are just a few things I need to fix.” _

_ “Please, I’ll be good! I promise!” _

_ “Don’t worry. This isn’t punishment. You’re going to be perfect.” _

Boris caught sight of himself in the reflective glass of the waiting table and screamed, bolting out of the tattoo parlour. 

“ **_Boris!_ ** ” Bendy quickly sprinted after him, followed by Joshua and Cordelia. Sammy rested his head in his hands, his whole body shaking. Wally had been turned into Boris. At least when Sammy had become an ink creature, he’d known who he was. Wally had had his identity taken away from him, replaced with someone else. Norman sat there, stone-faced, his teeth gritted. No one in the tattoo parlor said a word. What was there to say?

 

Meanwhile, Joshua, Cordelia, and Bendy caught Boris just short of Henry’s house. 

“What’s wrong?” Cordelia asked, putting a hand on Boris’ shoulder. Boris quickly swatted it away, getting up. 

“What’s wrong?” He asked, now fully in Wally’s voice. “I’m a %$#@ing cartoon! That’s what’s wrong!” His body felt wrong. His limbs were too long, his form too malleable, and he was painfully aware of his ears and tail. It was wrong. It was all so wrong. 

“ **_Bo?_ ** ” Bendy looked up at him, beginning to fidget. Boris, or was it Wally, froze and looked down at Bendy. 

“Uh, sorry.” He said, slouching a little in an action very reminiscent of Wally. 

“Well, now that you’re  **you** again, we can get Henry to remove your enchantment,” Joshua said. 

“ **_What’s going on?_ ** ” Bendy asked, suddenly very confused. Why wasn’t his friend acting the way he was supposed to?

“Let’s get inside.” Cordelia gently took Bendy’s hand. “We’ll explain there.”

Once inside, Joshua took Wally/Boris upstairs to be sorted out by Henry, while Cordelia explained what was going on to Bendy. 

“You and Boris were made using the bodies of former Joey Drew Studios.” She said. “Boris was made using the body of Wally Franks.” 

“ **_But what about the enchantment thing?_ ** ” Bendy asked. “ **_Why did you say Henry could remove it now?_ ** ”

“Well, it’s a little complicated.” Cordelia laughed nervously. “But from what I understand, removing the enchantment can get a little messy if the person doesn’t remember who they are. It was easier to remove the enchantments from Susie, Allison, and Sammy because they remembered who they were. At least, um, I think that’s how it goes.”

“ **_So...If I remember who I am, Henry can turn me back?_ ** ” Bendy tilted his head to the side. “ **_But how does he do that?_ ** ”

“I don’t know, honestly.” Cordelia shrugged. “But I’m glad he can do it. Because I got Sammy and Johnny and Norman and all the others back.” She smiled softly. “It’s never going to be the same as it was before, but we’re all back together again.” Bendy nodded, looking down at his hands. If he could remember who he was then he could get turned back into a human. But did he really want to be turned back? His human self had invariably helped the Bad Man. Bendy was a hero, he made people smile. Whoever he had been before hadn’t been a good person. A few minutes later, Wally came walking down the stairs. He still had faint symbols on his clothing, but other than that he looked the same way he had the last time Cordelia had seen him. Joshua followed after him, his clothing splotched with ink.

“Hey, lil lady.” Wally waved tiredly to Cordelia. 

“I’m not so little anymore.” Cordelia got up to hug him. Bendy watched her, his brows furrowed. Would anyone react that well if he turned that back?

“You okay?” Joshua asked, going over to the little demon. Bendy hunched his shoulders and kicked his feet. 

“ **_‘M fine._ ** ” He muttered. He didn’t want to turn back. People liked him better this way. 


End file.
